Setting Search One-pagers

[Oni]

What with Eberron having been released and all I was looking back through my notes and stuff and found my own submission. Just thought it would be kind of interesting to post it up now, and maybe see if anyone else would follow suit. Looking back, I wonder what I was thinking.

Core Ethos Sentence.
In a world where the gods are no more, mighty heroes and legendary creatures guide the course of history, through strength and cunning.

Who are the heroes?
Anyone with the grit and determination to reach out and grab their destiny can be a hero on Üth. Be it a gnomish merchant from cosmopolitan Venagia, a downtrodden peasant farmer from xenophobic Thall, or a giant escaped from the slave pits of the Crystal Throne, all that matters is that they take their fates in their own hands.

What do they do?
The heroes of Üth spring from a multitude of motivations and pursue a diverse number of paths to those ends. Some crave fame and fortune, others desire excitement and adventure, and still others quest for knowledge or the promotion of a philosophy. To achieve these ends and more, they travel north to carve kingdoms from the snow swept lands of the barbarians, seek out reclusive old wizards in their musty spires, infiltrate foreboding temples perched atop great ziggurats in search of ancient treasures, cast off with daring merchant princes, and whatever other mad schemes of daring-do they can concoct.

Threats, Conflicts, Villains
War between human kingdoms looms on the horizon. Sinister powers pursue their mysterious agendas. Press gangs roam city streets looking for slaves to send south. Fell beast born of dark magic creep from the bowels of the planet. But most dire of all, the Cult of Kylek threatens to spread out across the face of Üth from their jungle nation, and awaken their strange god.

Nature of magic
Magic in the world of Üth is a mysterious matter. While there are few practitioners of magic, it is far fewer still that understand its true nature. Before recorded time the gods sacrificed themselves to imprison the alien deity Kylek in the planet. Divine magic draws on the essence that remains of the dead gods. Spirits and powerful creatures, such as the greatest of dragon kind, are able to grant spells to their mortal followers. Weaker spirits do so by bonding with a single mortal, while more powerful creatures can grant their spells to small groups of followers. Arcane magic on the other hand comes from a more sinister source. The Children of Kylek (Illithids) brought it to the races of Üth in secret; it is a manipulation of the awesome power the Sleeping God radiates even in its imprisonment. Because of the unnatural and alien nature of arcane magic the more one delves into its study the more it begins to take its toll. At first the changes are minor, but they are more evident in those who have devoted a lifetime to its study. Regardless of the source, magic-users on Üth are rare because those naturally talented are few and far between and most other people are not able to devote time to the tremendous amount of training needed. All but the most minor of magic items are jealously guarded status symbols, commissioned like the pieces of art they are.

What’s new? What’s different?
Üth is a world where nocturnal elves, all that remain of their kind from the Purge, struggle to find their place in the world. Where trolds, a servitor race created in the golden age, mine ever closer to things that were never meant to be uncovered. Where gnomish merchants control vast financial empires, and spread civilization to the four corners of Üth. Gentle giants, born of the strength of a dying god, live in harmony with the land, trying to stem the tide of encroaching towns. Man is at once one of the most powerful guiding forces on Üth, and one of the most dangerous. Races everywhere are both blessed and cursed with the birth of the spirit-touched. It is a world without divine protection, its fate rest squarely on the backs of mighty heroes and dastardly villains.

 

[Oni]

No one else still have their submissions lying around?

 

[Hypersmurf]

No one else still have their submissions lying around?

Hmm... Morrus had an area set aside on the site at one point, and a bunch of people uploaded to it...

Ask him if he still has them somewhere.

-Hyp.

 

[Mark]

If it hasn't been purged, there a huge thread here somewhere with a lot of the participants revealing their stuff. Can't seem to find it though.

 

[d4]

If it hasn't been purged, there a huge thread here somewhere with a lot of the participants revealing their stuff. Can't seem to find it though.

i don't know where it went either. i don't even remember if i posted mine to that thread, so i'm just going to go ahead and use this one.

Core Ethos Statement
The New World of Talana is an uncharted and untamed land where heroes of the pioneering spirit can make their mark exploring fantastic lands, encountering new peoples, and defeating terrible monsters.

Who are the Heroes?
Heroes in the New World can be brave pioneers, forsaking the Old World of Meropa for the fresh vistas of the New. They can be scoundrels on the run from the law, seeking a new start on the frontier. They could be those sworn to protect the frontier from hostile natives and those who would flout the law. Heroes can be found among the native peoples of Talana as well, protecting their tribes from the invaders or perhaps working with the newcomers to help them appreciate the lands they now inhabit.

What do Heroes do?
Heroes in the New World will most likely spend much of their time exploring new lands, battling outlaws and bandits on the frontier, and making contact with the native peoples (whether peaceful or those with hostile intent). Eventually, the heroes may wish to settle down, carving out a domain for themselves on the frontier. They may wish to remain in one community, protecting it from whatever dangers come forth over the horizon to threaten it. Heroes may take part in the struggles of Meropa that spill over into the colonies, or may even return to the Old World itself to see their homelands.

Threats, Conflicts, and Villains
The rivalries of the Old World continue to complicate the lives of settlers in the New. The barbarians of Skorrfeld have settled in the cold northern reaches of the New World to continue their raids. The settlers from Presgard and Cormais live uneasily side-by-side, plotting against each other as their homelands prepare for war. The settlers of Vastria see in the New World a way to remake the empire they have long since lost in the Old World. The theocratic Caliphate has set up colonies on the islands to the south of the New World, seeking to convert the heathens to their monotheistic religion with gilded tongues or by the sword.

The indigenous Aticlan Empire of the lizardfolk seeks to drive the invaders from Talana using their dark and powerful magic. The elven tribes of the forests try to avoid the newcomers, but show no mercy against those who would defile their lands. The goblinoid tribes of the central plains, with their dire animal pets and shamanic magic, are a constant threat to settlers from the Old World. To the south, the disparate gnoll tribes have begun to learn from the invaders, adopting Old World tactics and arms in an effort to safeguard their independence and ancestral lands.

On a smaller scale, the frontier settlements of the New World have attracted the riff raff, scoundrels, outlaws, and bandits of the Old World, who exploit the lawless nature of the frontier for their own nefarious purposes.

In addition, the environment itself can provide plenty of danger. The New World is an untamed and, for the most part, unexplored place. Who knows what dangers lurk over the horizon?

The Nature of Magic
Arcane magic is the manipulation of invisible energies which emanate from the earth and flow through all things. A sorcerer is someone with the ability to manipulate arcane energy intuitively, and a wizard is someone who learns how to do so from mentors or ancient texts. As with other settings, divine magic comes from gods -- although there are also powerful spirits who live in the world and are capable of providing divine magic to those who revere them. Arcane magic is most common in the Old World and among those who come from there. Of the New World races, only the elves have displayed an affinity for arcane magic, as many elves can cast magic intuitively as sorcerers. Divine magic (both clerical and shamanic) is the standard for most of the New World races.

What's New and Different
The races of the world are divided into two broad groups: those that are native to Talana, and those who arrive as settlers and invaders from Meropa. Humans, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, orcs, and ogres are the Old World races; elves, goblinoids, lizardfolk, and gnolls are the New World races. All of these races would be considered "playable" in a New World campaign.

Unlike many other established worlds, the New World is for the most part unexplored and untamed. The various kingdoms of the Old World have set up some colonies on the coast and there are a handful of indigenous kingdoms scattered across Talana, but for the most part the continent is either uninhabited or occupied solely by nomadic tribes. This allows the PCs to be the first to explore many parts of the world and provides them with the ability to easily set up their own domains.

A "frontier mentality" pervades the New World. Everything is new -- the heroes can often be the first of their people to explore an area or make contact with a new culture. People are more independent on the frontier; they are more likely to try to take care of their own problems or seek help from their neighbors, rather than relying on some higher authority figure or central government. The frontier is a place where people can make a fresh start, away from whatever troubles they may have had in more civilized parts.

A major theme is the juxtaposition of the more "civilized" cultures of the Old World (similar to Europe at the height of the Middle Ages), and the more "primitive" cultures of the New (similar to the tribes and kingdoms of the Americas upon their first contact with Europeans).

Instead of using the conquistador era as a basis (as Maztica did), this is more about adopting a "Wild West" mentality in an otherwise standard Dungeons and Dragons setting.

 

[Krieg]

d4 that sounds almost exactly like my primary homebrew campaign!

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Mine was posted in that area, but I think it's gone now. So here goes nothin':

RUINS OF EMPIRE Campaign Setting
​

1. Core Ethos Sentence. Ruins of Empire is about survival, exploration, and desperate combat set in a world struggling to raise itself from the ashes of a multiversal disaster and subsequent wars.



2. Who are the heroes? There are very few "name-caliber" heroes in the world of Gannis, representing a unique opportunity for player-characters to carve a name for themselves in the annals of history. However, wasteland bards sing tales of such folk heroes as Vizaalius, the great paladin-general of the Celestial Order of the Divine Maker, and Hespah, secretive master of the order of Mystic Warriors. In Tessildor, the indigo-cloaked agents of the fascistic First Citizen scour the land for the Silvershield, a mysterious wanderer who foils the plots of the would-be conquerer.



3. What do they do? Opportunities for adventurous souls are abundant in Gannis. Many seek the ruins of the Great Cosmic Empire, to plunder them of their lost technologies, which rival the greatest magical artifacts in their power. Freedom fighters (such as the Silvershield, see above) seek the downfall of the many corrupt regimes that have risen throughout the world. Gannis teems with fell beasts, demons, dragons, and vile races stranded here after the fall of the Great Cosmic Empire, while countless explorers strive simply to better understand this world that has, quite literally, been reshaped by eons of war.



4. Threats, Conflicts, & Villains. The primary antagonists of the setting are the Uncreated, an obscure race responsible for the downfall of the Great Cosmic Empire, who are performing "mop-up operations" across the multiverse in an attempt to wipe out the last vestiges of the Empire. They have succeeded in infiltrating Gannis society and work to foment political upheaval, war atrocities, and racial division. Their machinations have only begun to make themselves known to the most powerful beings on Gannis, but few suspect just how powerful and entrenched the Uncreated are.

Lesser threats include the aforementioned regime of Corzon Dagodor, First Citizen of Tessildor, the former king who disposed of his title after cementing his hold on that country's military and economic leadership. He has banned all unsanctioned arcane magic, and evicted the clergy of the Celestial Order in favor of his state-run denomination of the Order.



5. Nature of Magic. Arcane magic is a form of energy that pervades the universe and interacts with the minds of trained adepts. In the days of the Empire, wizardry was just another mundane, albeit useful, science that was studied alongside physics and chemistry. Since the collapse of the Empire and the loss of scientific and technical knowledge in the ensuing dark age, magic has taken on a more and more important role in the affairs of the people, as the number of wielders has declined.

Divine magic is the province of the Celestial Order, a powerful pre-Collapse faith in an all-powerful Divine Maker and Preserver, represented by various denominations, sects, and mystery cults (to provide for the variation in clerical domains and world outlooks that pantheistic religions usually provide). The Celestial Order is worshipped amongst nearly all civilized races. Exceptions include barbaric human and demihuman cultures that worship various nature spirits, and evil races such as goblins, orcs and ogres who pay tribute to fiends.



6. What's new? What's different? Ruins of Empire represents an effort to bridge the worlds of high sword-and-sorcery with the sub-genre of post-apocalyptic dark fantasy. The trappings of traditional fantasy, including elves, dwarves, dragons, demons and magic are all there. These elements are layered onto a backdrop of fallen civilizations, ancient and forgotten lore, and a quest for survival in a harsher and more chaotic world. The actions of PCs can and will have a great effect on the world of Gannis. Characters have a chance to be the movers and shakers of society, rather than minor players in the struggles of gods, archmages, and kings.